


Missing

by AmberRain076



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Friendship, Gen, Heavily inspired by Evanescence's Missing, Hurt/Comfort, Just Friends, No Romance, Random idea I thought early in the morning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 08:11:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6510028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberRain076/pseuds/AmberRain076
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The moment he took off, he expected no one to even find him. He expected to be forgotten, but… when he was missing, they knew. They came back for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missing

**Author's Note:**

> This was a random drabble idea I had when RPying on my blog. I thought about how important Ulrich's friendship is with his friends, and that they would all stick together no matter what. So, I bring to you... this lovely little drabble. Thanks for reading!

**_R_** un. 

Run away from your problems, your issues, and even yourself. That’s what Ulrich thought to do. Running into the woods won’t solve anything. It won’t do anything great for him, he realized. It won’t do anything…. anything at all. 

Pressure squeezes him like a stress ball. Everyday he vowed to do what he can to please his parents, please his friends, please himself. There were high expectations to be working hard… to be successul… to be _perfect._ Perfect…. why does that word seem so important, anyway?

Perfect. No flaws… no defection. Flawless and precise. It was what his father would wanted, now wouldn’t it? Just be… just be. That was the problem. No matter how hard he tried, he can’t be perfect. He can’t be precise. He can’t be flawless. Everyone has flaws, so why should he be told to be without them? He realized that no matter how hard he tried, he can’t do anything to prove to his father that he is perfect just the way he is. 

Days pass by, and nothing came up. Days worsen, and so did he. He couldn’t handle it. He spent days scribbling on his tests, hoping to get a decent grade. He spent days doing nothing but homework and studying… staying up late. Heck, his fights on Lyoko have gotten…. indescribable. His katanas slice through XANA’s minions like it was nothing, but… that doesn’t change the fact of how he feels. Lyoko was his way of exploding his emotions on battle… to take it out on the Krabs, Hornets, Mantas, etc. Lately, it didn’t make him feel any better. Nothing was working.

Nothing. 

Depression strangles him… suffocating him and preventing him to live his life to the fullest. To live his life and be jovial. Nothing he can do can make him feel carefree and happy again. Nothing. 

A thought catches on his mind…. Aelita ran away before, didn’t she? When she was upset, she ran to Lyoko and hide from the rest of the world. Maybe he should too. Feeling as if he’s not good enough for the world… to anybody… he felt he should. He would still be fighting XANA of course, but Lyoko would be his territory. His new sanctuary besides the woods. His new territory. He would still have his friends around, so what could possibly go wrong?

Nobody would suspect a thing.

Writing in his diary, he decided to say his goodbyes for now…. for now on. To all of his friends. He hopes they would understand. Maybe they will… and maybe they won’t. For now, it’s time to leave. He sets it on his bed, taking one glimpse at his sleeping roommate and his dog before closing the door shut. A walk to the woods, through the sewers, and down the elevator. 

Glancing at the Supercomputer, he taps his fingers on the keyboard, activating the Virtualization sequence that could happen in a matter of seconds. He hops in the scanner, and with winds gusting at him, pulling him back, a bright light occurs… and he finds himself in the Desert Sector. The only safe place is the tower, that’s where Aelita spent her years in. Stepping into the tower, he sits on the center of the platform, watching blue specs of data all over the place. 

It was better here…. despite just being locked up in a tower like Rapunzel. It was… a way to be free, but is he really? Is he really free from anything? From his problems, his issues, himself? Then he reminded himself….

Nobody would suspect a thing.

* * *

 

“Hey, has anyone seen Ulrich?” Curiosity and worry is edging off of Yumi the moment the gang gathered up in the Cafeteria. “….I haven’t seen him anywhere…”  


Odd shakes his head, a concerned noise left his closed lips. “When I woke up this morning, he was gone. He doesn’t run off to the woods that early.”

“Did you check the woods?” Aelita wonders, eyes scrunch up in consternation. “He must be there already….”  


“He wasn’t there…. and he wouldn’t run off to the Hermitage,” Odd responds, scratching his chin. “…Do you think he-”  


Jeremie cuts him off with a hand. “No, he wouldn’t do that…. you know Ulrich won’t run away.”

Odd raises a brow. “I don’t mean it like that… I mean… what if he ran off to Lyoko?”

Everyone fell silent after that. What if he did? What if he did so because running to the woods wasn’t exactly his way of being alone? Or… was it something else.

“….You’ve seen how he’s been. Working hard, being on edge, sleep deprived, he probably couldn’t handle the pressure anymore and ran off…”  


“But Ulrich wouldn’t do that!” Jeremie exclaims. He then became uncertain… musing over it. “…Would he?”  


Yumi hardens her eyes, glittering in determination. She knew what they had to do, she knew what they had to do to make sure.

“Only one way to find out….”

* * *

 

Ulrich taps his foot a little impatiently in the tower, still watching all the data files in the tower. As okay as this may be, it isn’t fun. It isn’t the same. He expected to have the time of his life, but… nope. There was nothing fun here than being stored up in this tower. Nothing…. just nothing. Then, a noise catches his attention. Someone must have went in here… and he thinks he has a pretty good idea on who.

“Ulrich…. what are you doing here?”   


Of course. That gentle tone. It’s none other than Aelita. He spins his head to see her. She looked so… worried and sympathetic. Just seeing the emotion in her eyes gives him a prime example of how the others reacted to his absence. 

“Princess, I…” He began, and should he dare explain his dilemma? Should he at all? As he’s been told, talking about it will make him feel better. Time to put that to the test. “Princess, I just wanted to stay away from all the stress, all the expectations. I’m suppose to be perfect, but the one word that could come out is mistake….”  


Aelita sighs, approaching him and sitting down beside him. “Ulrich… you’re not a mistake. You may make mistakes, but you aren’t one. Your father just has to accept you for who you-”

Ulrich snorts at that little statement. “Huh, yeah…. good luck with that,” he replies in a snarky tone. “Do you think it’s that simple? It’s not…. it’ll never be simple. No matter what I do, it blows up in my face.”

“But what about us?” Odd questions as he and Yumi traveled in. “We accept you for who you are…. I mean, c’mon! We’re best friends here!”  


Ulrich appreciates his enthusiasm and positivism, but…. it’s different. “….I know, but… I’m not good enough… good enough to be your friend, to be my father’s son, to save Lyoko and Earth….”

“How can you say that?” Yumi inquires in both shock and pique. “It doesn’t matter if you’re good enough, not at all! What matters is that you’re here… with us, and fighting. Fighting with us. Being with us, being friends with us. If your father doesn’t see that, then he doesn’t know what he’s missing.”  


Ulrich smiles at that. Good thing to know how much they care. “Yeah… I suppose you’re right. I mean… we got to stick together, am I right?”

“Exactly…” Jeremie calls from above, a wide smile on his face. “Now, c’mon… I’m sending you guys back home.”  


Home. Home wasn’t a place, like his house, the woods, or Lyoko. Home is where the heart is. Home is his friends. Ulrich always felt at home with them. He wouldn’t change them for the world.

“Yeah… let’s go home.”

The moment he took off, he expected no one to even find him. He expected to be forgotten, but… when he was missing, they knew. They came back for him.

….He will never feel alone again… as long as they’re around… right by his side.

 


End file.
